‘We Are All Immigrants Here’
[Re “Winooski Schools Inundated With Angry Calls, Threats for Flying Somali Flag,” December 8]: This has to be the saddest Christmas season story I have read in a very long time. The story doesn’t mention how many of the calls and threats originated locally, but hopefully those were few. When did we lose our ability to be empathetic, kind and generous to our neighbors, regardless of where they came from or the language they speak? Why is there a climate of petty bullying, vile language, vindictiveness and hate toward those who are not white, rich and male? We are all immigrants here.
The fish rots from the head, it is said, and, truly, the current leadership of this country is proving to be as rotten as they come — and proud of it. In this season of peace on Earth, goodwill toward men, celebrating the baby who was born in a stable with “no crib for a bed,” glorious heavenly angels, and all the other tokens of peace and harmony this season brings us, it is truly ironic that the baby born in that stable and proclaimed as Savior and Lord by many would have been deported without a moment’s hesitation by too many of those same angry voices.
Our refugee communities from all countries bring so much to our lives, and hopefully the people of Vermont will stand up to this hatefulness with charity, kindness and inclusion, the regime be damned.
Louise Goodrich
Essex
Flag Protocol
We should not fly a foreign flag at a U.S. government school [“Winooski Schools Inundated With Angry Calls, Threats for Flying Somali Flag,” December 8]. Another country’s flag may be flown at their embassy or on private property.
Denise Hughlett
Duxbury
What Burlington Needs
Wonderful article on David Blow [“A Bard of Burlington: Local Historian David Blow Receives the Chittenden County Historical Society’s Inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award,” November 19]! There is so much history in this town, and David’s guidebooks are a vital key to understanding Burlington.
More proof of how informative Seven Days is. I’m glad I can be a paying Super Reader. They need more, as you know. Seven Days is an important part of this city. We also need to revive Memorial Auditorium, not with an ugly replacement but a real brick building, a memorial to our veterans.
We also need the return of the No. 11 bus line from the waterfront up College Street to the hospital, out to the airport and also to Tilley Drive, which is becoming the location of half of the University of Vermont Medical Center! If we don’t want a lot more cars, we need the buses to connect the city to its hospital and airport! We must find a way.
My best to all this winter season. Live long and prosper, Seven Days.
Charlie Messing
Burlington
Say No to Plastic Turf
[Re “Turf Wars: A Proposal to Install Artificial Grass on a CVU Playing Field Spurs Worries About ‘Forever Chemicals,’” November 26]: Champlain Valley Union High School is deciding whether to allow a playing field composed of plastic that is no way certified to be free of PFAS chemicals. These are plastics that must be sprayed to cool down in the summer heat and are underlain with crumb rubber that disintegrates in UV light, requiring the field to be entirely replaced every eight to 10 years.
The private fundraising for this field, spearheaded by Eli Lesser-Goldsmith, co-owner of Healthy Living market, would be a direct and “forever” threat to the Source Water Protection area for the Town of Hinesburg. Once town wells are ruined, they are gone forever. The State of Vermont has recognized a zero tolerance of PFAS chemicals in a law effective on January 1. Lubricants used in the manufacture of this turf contain PFAS, measurable in parts per trillion that are a known cause of endocrine system harm and cancer. The manufacturer denies none of this.
Everyone wants kids to play and excel at sports — and for communities to celebrate that. Let’s not let well-intentioned fervor endanger the health and longevity of CVU students and Hinesburg residents. Instead, a campaign to engineer a properly draining field of living grass would be less costly and absolutely sustainable.
Plastic turf is a recognized and colossal hazard. Lesser-Goldsmith is listening to neither the science nor the law. He says he will not abandon this effort until the “universe” tells him to. The universe has no voice. Scientists do; legislators do; people do.
Kevin Burget
Hinesburg
Prison Is Not the Answer
[Re “Maxed Out: Vermont’s Prisons Are Full Again. A Crackdown on Repeat Offenders Raises the Question: Where Will They Go?” November 19]: Thank you for naming an uncomfortable reality: Vermont leaders continue to respond to crises of mental health, substance-use disorder and poverty by increasing the incarceration of Vermonters, instead of investing in the services that would meaningfully address these challenges.
Many people in our prisons are serving time for nonviolent offenses or are being held pretrial without a conviction. The elimination of the $200 bail cap has only worsened this, creating a system that punishes poverty rather than protects public safety. The result is warehousing Vermonters struggling with mental health, substance-use disorder and poverty; overwhelming the system; and further burdening taxpayers.
This approach also creates serious harm. Those exiting incarceration face an elevated risk of overdose. Recidivism rates also remain high, reflecting the reality that prison often destabilizes people further and makes it harder to secure housing, employment and ongoing support. Contrary to what the governor’s counsel has stated, prisons are not a place for healing.
Additionally, shipping more incarcerated Vermonters to Mississippi will only deepen the harms by severing community ties, disrupting progress and making reentry more difficult. It is one of the most expensive and least effective approaches our state could choose.
Vermonters deserve leaders who use their power and influence to invest in effective solutions to the crises that too often result in incarceration.
Bella Fearn
Burlington
View From the Overpass
The recent letter [Feedback: “Time to Close McNeil,” December 10] is right on. Walking recently on Main Street in Winooski, I had the misfortune of seeing, via the overpass, tons of wood chips being taken via freight cars to the McNeil Generating Station. Ever heard of global warming and, more importantly, wind power and solar power?
An added note: The train whistle of the locomotive carting this stuff at 11:45 p.m. at the crossing on Barlow Street is also unwelcome.
Tom MacDonald
Winooski
This article appears in The Reading Issue 2025.
